Things I Like, Part 1 – A Nice Skoda

I like nice things. I know that sounds daft. I mean, who’s going to admit to liking nasty things? Some women say they like bad boys; that they get a buzz out of the company of a man who treats them like something left on the bottom of a muddy boot at a farm kitchen door. That’s what they say anyway. Dogs like licking their own bollocks and cats, as ever, go one better and lick their own arses with every sign of pleasure if not dignity.

As I was saying, I like nice things. I like Lady Grey tea and M&S boxers and choccie biccies. I like things which make me feel comfortable and at home. I’d rather have a doppio ristretto to get me going in the morning, so I probably understand more than I care to admit about the Bad Boy Effect at least as far as it applies to morning beverages.

Let’s try to drag it back to nice things with Skodas. I have an Octavia and it’s a thoroughly nice car. It’s a 1.6 CR Elegance in a fetching shade called Rosso Morello. It’s quiet for a small diesel hatchback, rides the motorways and A-roads with much less bluster and fluster than the Focus I had before. It has a shoooooge boot which almost matches the Mondeo I had before the Focus. The stereo is reasonable but doesn’t have a proper iPod connection. It has an aux-in which means you sometimes have to faff around with your controls. I thought I’d miss the Focus’ sharper steering and handling but to be honest, I don’t. I spend so much of my time with the cruise control set to 70mph that my Octavia’s fuel economy and serenity count for more to me than control blade rear suspension and back road kingliness. It has dual zone climate control which kept me cool during the summer, the screen clear during the rainy season and nice and toasty during the winter.

It used to be that Skodas were a Commie joke. There were mutterings that they could have been a lot better than they were but that the Russians stopped that. Skodas are now more middle-class, Middle European. They are quiet and sober and dignified with occasional sporty moments provided by rally cars and vRS versions. Sadly, there are now mutterings that they could be better than they are but for the interfering hand of Volkswagen.

My experience tells me that’s mince. It doesn’t need damped door handles. It feels solid and well made and in six months and 19,000 miles nothing has fallen off. The only thing which went wrong was during the worst of the cold weather in December when the windscreen washers froze when the temperature was consistently below -8 degrees C. I’m one of those happy drivers Skoda says it manufactures. I’d love my next car to be a Superb estate or a Yeti but in truth, you don’t need anything more than a nice, sensible Octavia hatch.